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Lack of affordable housing compounds mental health staff shortage – MPs
The lack of affordable housing for nurses exacerbates the severe shortage of mental health staff, according to a report by an influential committee of MPs published today.
A report by the Public Accounts Committee, the cross-party committee chaired by Labour MP Meg Hillier, notes there has been a 2% decrease in mental health nurses between April 2015 and September 2017.
Problems with recruitment and retention have led to a ‘huge shortage of nurses’ in mental health according to The Royal College of Nursing, the report says.
The number of children and young people with a diagnosed mental health condition has significantly increased with 11.2% of five to fifteen-year-olds diagnosed with a mental illness in 2017, compared to 9.7% in 1999.
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Children and young people struggle to access health care because of staff shortages, the report said. The NHS estimates that just 30.5% of children and young people with a diagnosable mental illness accessed treatment in 2017.
“Most young people with mental health conditions do not get the treatment they need, and under current NHS plans this will still be true for years to come,” the report said.
“Getting the right workforce in place is the biggest barrier to the government’s ambitions for children and young people’s mental health services.”
The report says the government has no ‘comprehensive, long-term plan’ for how it will implement Future in Mind, a 2015 cross-sector plan for children and young people’s mental health support.
“Tackling mental health issues among children and young people requires significant cross-departmental co-operation, but current approaches do not ensure that this happens in practice,” the report says.
"It is not clear how some cross-departmental issues affecting children and young
people’s mental health services will be addressed, for example affordable housing for staff."
